https://www.scmp.com/rss/322473/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Associated Press Associated Press The United Nations expressed “grave concern” on Thursday about a new law issued by Afghanistan’s Taliban government on separation in marriage which includes provisions on child marriage, saying the code further entrenches discrimination against women and girls. The government rejected the accusations, saying the decree follows Islamic law and insisting the country has already banned the forced marriage of girls. Afghanistan’s justice ministry published Decree No 18 “on judicial separation of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3354430/un-expresses-grave-concern-over-taliban-decree-includes-provision-child-marriage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3354430/un-expresses-grave-concern-over-taliban-decree-includes-provision-child-marriage?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 May 2026 19:45:45 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A joint operation by the United States and Nigeria against Islamic State fighters has killed 175 over the past few days, Nigeria’s military said on Tuesday, while the head of the US Africa Command said it showed the capabilities its forces could bring in Africa, home to the “epicentre of global terrorism”. The US sent troops to Nigeria in February in what was deemed a mostly advisory and training role, but the joint operation signals more active involvement. The US Africa Command, or AFRICOM,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3354190/joint-nigeria-us-strikes-kill-175-isis-fighters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3354190/joint-nigeria-us-strikes-kill-175-isis-fighters?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 May 2026 05:40:34 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Israeli strikes killed seven people in Lebanon on Sunday, including an Islamic Jihad commander, Lebanese authorities and state media said, despite a fragile ceasefire as Hezbollah called US-brokered talks between the two countries a “dead end”. The health ministry published a “preliminary toll” for Israel’s strikes on Sunday, with three people killed in the town of Tayr Felsay, including a child, and two killed in the town of Tayr Debba, including another child. It said 11 people were wounded in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3353908/lebanon-says-israeli-strikes-kill-7-hezbollah-condemns-talks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3353908/lebanon-says-israeli-strikes-kill-7-hezbollah-condemns-talks?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 May 2026 23:17:36 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel had almost completed a key goal of the war in Gaza – eliminating all those responsible for orchestrating the attack on October 7, 2023. His remarks followed the Israeli military’s announcement that Ezzedine al-Haddad, commander of Hamas’ armed wing, had been killed in an air strike in Gaza on Friday. In the aftermath of the October 7 assault, Netanyahu pledged to target and eliminate the masterminds behind the attacks, which, according... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3353901/israels-pm-says-close-killing-all-architects-october-7-attack?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3353901/israels-pm-says-close-killing-all-architects-october-7-attack?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 May 2026 18:05:35 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Calls by hardline Indian political figures to resume backchannel talks with Pakistan, a year after their latest conflict, reflect the realisation that both countries cannot afford another war for the time being, analysts say. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) secretary general Dattatreya Hosabale’s push earlier this week for so-called Track 2 diplomatic engagement with Pakistan has raised hopes for a reduction in the tensions between the two countries. In an Indian media interview on Wednesday,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3353849/will-geopolitical-shifts-push-india-pakistan-towards-cautious-diplomacy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3353849/will-geopolitical-shifts-push-india-pakistan-towards-cautious-diplomacy?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 May 2026 08:00:09 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press US and Nigerian forces killed a leader of Islamic State in Nigeria in a mission carried out on Friday, US President Donald Trump said. Trump announced the joint operation in Africa’s most populous country in a late-night social media post that offered few details. He said Abu Bakr al-Mainuki was second in command of Isis globally and “thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing.” Al-Mainuki was viewed as a key figure in IS... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3353796/trump-says-isis-second-command-abu-bilal-eliminated-battlefield?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3353796/trump-says-isis-second-command-abu-bilal-eliminated-battlefield?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 May 2026 04:45:20 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Israeli lawmakers approved a bill on Monday setting up a special tribunal that would try and have the authority to sentence to death Palestinians convicted of taking part in the 2023 Hamas-led attack that triggered the war in Gaza. The measure passed 93-0 in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament, reflecting widespread support for punishing those found responsible for what was the deadliest attack in Israel’s history. The remaining 27 lawmakers were absent or abstained from voting. Rights groups... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3353236/israel-pushes-ahead-eichmann-style-tribunal-october-7-attackers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3353236/israel-pushes-ahead-eichmann-style-tribunal-october-7-attackers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 May 2026 06:19:43 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The death toll from a suicide attack on a security post in northwest Pakistan rose to 14 police officers, authorities said early on Sunday. A self-proclaimed breakaway group of the Pakistani Taliban has claimed the attack. A suicide bomber and several gunmen detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near the post in Bannu, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, late on Saturday, senior police official Sajjad Khan said. The attack triggered an intense shoot-out, and some... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3353047/pakistani-taliban-splinter-group-claims-suicide-attack-14-police-dead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3353047/pakistani-taliban-splinter-group-claims-suicide-attack-14-police-dead?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 May 2026 10:57:37 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Two Australian women “kept a female slave” after travelling to Syria in 2014 to support Islamic State, police said on Friday after the pair were charged in Melbourne. The women returned to Australia on Thursday evening for the first time in almost a decade, travelling from a Syrian detention camp where they were stranded after the group’s collapse. They were immediately arrested after their Qatar Airways flight landed at Melbourne International Airport. Police accused the women – a mother and... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3352825/islamic-state-linked-australian-women-charged-keeping-slave-syria?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3352825/islamic-state-linked-australian-women-charged-keeping-slave-syria?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 May 2026 23:42:36 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A group of 13 Australians related to alleged Islamic State (Isis) jihadists is returning home from Syria, Australian authorities said on Wednesday, warning some will face arrest. The four women and nine children, who had been living in Roj camp in Syria, are expected to land in Sydney and Melbourne airports on Thursday, according to local media. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said he received an alert on Wednesday morning when the group’s travel booking was made. “The government is not... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3352571/australia-warns-arrests-13-people-linked-isis-set-return-syria?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3352571/australia-warns-arrests-13-people-linked-isis-set-return-syria?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 May 2026 04:52:56 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A state-backed Nigerian militia, operating alongside the military, killed scores of ethnic Fulani herders in a raid, local sources have told journalists. The herders were killed in an operation that also involved vigilantes from Benin, just across the border from Niger State, after the herders were accused of being informants for the jihadist group Ansaru. The Nigerian vigilantes from Bussa district raided herding Fulani settlements around Kabe, in neighbouring Borgu, in a massacre that also saw... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3352287/vigilantes-nigeria-kill-herders-amid-jihadist-tensions-kidnapping-gangs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3352287/vigilantes-nigeria-kill-herders-amid-jihadist-tensions-kidnapping-gangs?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 May 2026 13:06:51 +0000 Reuters Reuters A series ⁠of reversals suffered by Mali’s Moscow-backed military government has dented Russia’s image as ⁠a self-styled security guarantor in Africa and threatens its strategic and economic interests on the continent. The military junta, which turned to Russia for support after expelling French and UN troops following coups in 2020 and 2021, was rocked at the weekend by an offensive by West Africa’s al-Qaeda affiliate and a Tuareg-dominated separatist group. Mali’s Russia-trained defence... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3351955/mali-turmoil-tests-russias-image-security-guarantor-africa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3351955/mali-turmoil-tests-russias-image-security-guarantor-africa?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Apr 2026 05:13:57 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A man accused of pledging allegiance to Islamic State group and plotting to attack one of superstar singer Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna nearly two years ago pleaded guilty as his trial began on Tuesday, Austrian media reported. The plot was thwarted, but Austrian authorities still cancelled Swift’s three performances in August 2024. The singer’s fans, known as Swifties, who had flown to Austria from across the globe to attend a performance of her record-setting Eras Tour were devastated,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3351728/austrian-islamic-state-man-admits-plot-taylor-swift-concert-vienna?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3351728/austrian-islamic-state-man-admits-plot-taylor-swift-concert-vienna?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Apr 2026 10:50:00 +0000 Dewey Sim Dewey Sim Lebanon’s social affairs minister has backed calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, but cautioned the process would take time before a “political settlement” could be reached, noting that the group is also a “community”. Haneen Sayed told a discussion in Washington on Monday that disarming Hezbollah – an Iran-backed militant group – was a demand of her government and its people, and that it “must happen”. “Of course, we understand that implementation is not easy. It’s not instant coffee. It... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3351621/hezbollah-disarmament-must-happen-senior-lebanese-minister-tells-us-think-tank?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3351621/hezbollah-disarmament-must-happen-senior-lebanese-minister-tells-us-think-tank?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Apr 2026 18:33:04 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The first public trial in Syria of officials linked to the rule of former President Bashar al-Assad opened in Damascus on Sunday. Atef Najib, a former Syrian army brigadier general who was head of the Political Security Branch in southern Syria’s Daraa province under Assad, and who is also a cousin of the former president, appeared in the courtroom to face charges related to “crimes against the Syrian people,” the state-run news agency SANA reported. Najib was in that position in 2011 when... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3351488/syria-begins-long-awaited-first-trial-assad-era-officials?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3351488/syria-begins-long-awaited-first-trial-assad-era-officials?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Apr 2026 11:52:44 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage Mozambique and China have agreed to map the vast, untapped deposits of critical minerals buried beneath the African nation’s resource-rich northern provinces, as Maputo seeks Chinese capital and security expertise to unlock one of the continent’s most coveted – and conflict-ridden – resource frontiers. The announcement was made in a joint statement issued after talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Mozambican counterpart Daniel Chapo in Beijing on Tuesday. The geological survey will... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3351346/china-and-mozambique-map-critical-minerals-insurgency-hit-cabo-delgado?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3351346/china-and-mozambique-map-critical-minerals-insurgency-hit-cabo-delgado?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Apr 2026 04:00:09 +0000 Agencies Agencies Israel on Monday told residents of south Lebanon ⁠to stay out of a belt of territory running the length of the border and not to approach the area of the Litani River, entrenching its grip over southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah. The US-mediated, 10-day ceasefire took effect on Thursday, largely halting the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah that spiralled out of the ‌conflict between the United States and Iran. But it remains fragile, with Israeli troops... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3350658/israel-says-military-use-full-force-lebanon-despite-truce-if-soldiers-face-threat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3350658/israel-says-military-use-full-force-lebanon-despite-truce-if-soldiers-face-threat?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Apr 2026 20:35:39 +0000 Reuters Reuters At least 200 people were feared dead after Nigerian military jets struck a village market while pursuing Islamist militants in the northeast of the country ‌on Saturday night, a councillor for the area and residents said on Sunday. The Nigerian Air Force, responding to reports of civilian casualties, said in a statement it had activated its Civilian Harm Accident and Investigation Cell “to immediately proceed to the location on a fact-finding mission on the allegation”. Earlier, the Air Force... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3349822/200-feared-dead-after-nigerian-air-strike-hits-market-northeast-yobe-state?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3349822/200-feared-dead-after-nigerian-air-strike-hits-market-northeast-yobe-state?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Apr 2026 21:18:31 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Benin was voting for a new president on Sunday, with Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni a shoo-in after overseeing a decade of economic growth in the West African country despite jihadist attacks in the north. Nearly eight million voters are eligible to cast ballots to choose a successor to Patrice Talon, who is stepping down after two five-year terms and has endorsed Wadagni as his successor. Turnout will be a crucial factor after a lacklustre campaign hit by voter apathy. “We must vote to ensure... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3349796/benin-election-favours-continuity-amid-al-qaeda-attacks-poverty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3349796/benin-election-favours-continuity-amid-al-qaeda-attacks-poverty?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Apr 2026 09:35:26 +0000 Reuters Reuters The Iran-aligned Iraqi armed ⁠group Kataib Hezbollah ⁠has released abducted US journalist ⁠Shelly Kittleson, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday. Officials from the Pentagon, the FBI and the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council were among the people who assisted in ‌securing Kittleson’s release, Rubio said in a statement. She was abducted in late March in Baghdad. “We are relieved that this American is now free and are working to support her safe departure from Iraq,” he added. Kataib... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349310/pro-iran-group-says-will-release-us-journalist-kidnapped-iraq?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349310/pro-iran-group-says-will-release-us-journalist-kidnapped-iraq?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:54:50 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Samira Muhammadi hopes an international investigation can “extinguish” her pain after a Pakistani bombing killed her son and hundreds of other Afghans in the capital Kabul last month. The March 16 attack hit a drug treatment centre and killed 411 people, according to Afghan officials. A United Nations source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had verified at least 250 killed, with more still missing. “There should be investigations on this … Like me, many mothers lost their sons,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3349110/pakistani-strike-killed-her-son-rehab-now-afghan-mother-demands-answers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3349110/pakistani-strike-killed-her-son-rehab-now-afghan-mother-demands-answers?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Apr 2026 01:14:50 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Violence by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has reached unprecedented levels since the start of the war with Iran, with NGOs and opposition figures denouncing an environment of impunity. While so-called “Jewish terrorism” has drawn widespread condemnation both in Israel and abroad, little has been done to curb it. Assaults by violent settlers against Palestinians have been carried out for years, often to the indifference of mainstream Israeli... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348798/surging-jewish-terrorism-west-bank-condemned-goes-unpunished?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348798/surging-jewish-terrorism-west-bank-condemned-goes-unpunished?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Apr 2026 08:45:00 +0000 Neeta Lal Neeta Lal As tensions simmer along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier – fuelled by disputes over the contested Durand Line, recurring cross-border strikes and the persistent threat of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters operating from Afghan soil – a subtle but consequential geopolitical shift is under way. India is quietly but steadily stepping up its engagement with the Taliban. The urgency of this recalibration was underscored on March 16, when Pakistani military forces carried out one of the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3348182/why-india-quietly-deepening-its-engagement-taliban?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3348182/why-india-quietly-deepening-its-engagement-taliban?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 21:30:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that Israel will widen its invasion of southern Lebanon. Netanyahu said Israel would expand what he called the “existing security strip” in Lebanon as Israeli forces continue to target the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group. “We are determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north,” he said on a visit to northern Israel, adding that “Hezbollah still has residual capability to fire rockets at us”. There were no immediate... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348324/netanyahu-says-israel-will-widen-its-invasion-southern-lebanon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348324/netanyahu-says-israel-will-widen-its-invasion-southern-lebanon?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Mar 2026 17:59:50 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A series of strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday and early Tuesday, the first attack on the Hezbollah stronghold in days, as Israel’s military said it captured two members of the Iran-backed group in southern Lebanon. An earlier Israeli strike hit the upscale, predominantly Christian area of Hazmieh near Beirut, with Israel saying it targeted a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ foreign operations arm. AFPTV’s live broadcast showed clouds of smoke over the capital’s southern... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347646/israel-strikes-south-beirut-claims-it-captured-hezbollah-members?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347646/israel-strikes-south-beirut-claims-it-captured-hezbollah-members?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Mar 2026 23:24:05 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Hundreds of Syrians protested in central Damascus on Sunday against new restrictions on alcohol sales, reflecting wider fears that the Islamist authorities may tighten curbs on personal freedoms. The Syrian capital last week banned the sale of alcoholic beverages in restaurants and bars, only allowing shops in three Christian neighbourhoods to sell bottles. In one of them, Bab Tuma, demonstrators gathered in a silent protest following calls by civil society groups to condemn what they say... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3347508/syrians-protest-against-alcohol-sale-limits-personal-freedom-curbs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3347508/syrians-protest-against-alcohol-sale-limits-personal-freedom-curbs?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Mar 2026 17:10:10 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Pakistan announced on Wednesday a pause in strikes against Afghanistan, saying the decision was made ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr at the request of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. In a statement, Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar said the pause in strikes on “terrorists and their support infrastructure in Afghanistan” would take effect at midnight on Wednesday and remain in place until midnight on Monday. “Pakistan offers this gesture in good faith and in keeping with... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3347078/pakistan-pause-afghan-strikes-eid-request-saudi-arabia-qatar-turkey?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3347078/pakistan-pause-afghan-strikes-eid-request-saudi-arabia-qatar-turkey?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2026 15:39:38 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Multiple explosions staged by suspected suicide bombers rocked the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 100 others, police said Tuesday, . The three blasts, which struck on Monday evening, came after an attack on a military post overnight Sunday to Monday, which authorities blamed on suspected jihadists. Combined with the attack on the military position the evening prior and a mosque bombing in December, the assaults have wrecked a peaceful... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3346862/suicide-attacks-nigeria-kill-23-wound-more-100?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3346862/suicide-attacks-nigeria-kill-23-wound-more-100?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Mar 2026 07:09:51 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Afghanistan accused Pakistan of killing at least 400 people in an air strike on a drug rehabilitation hospital in the Afghan capital late on Monday. It marked a dramatic escalation of a conflict that began late last month and has seen repeated cross-border clashes as well as air strikes inside Afghanistan. International calls for a ceasefire have gone unheeded. Pakistan dismissed the accusation that it had hit a hospital, saying its strikes, which were also conducted in eastern Afghanistan, did... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3346806/afghanistan-accuses-pakistan-killing-civilians-fresh-kabul-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3346806/afghanistan-accuses-pakistan-killing-civilians-fresh-kabul-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 20:27:26 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The brother of the man who attacked a Michigan synagogue last week, who was killed earlier this month in an Israeli air strike, was a Hezbollah commander, Israel’s military claimed on Sunday. Ibrahim Ghazali was killed in Lebanon along with three other of the attacker’s relatives on March 5 - a week before authorities allege Ayman Mohamad Ghazali drove his car into a major synagogue outside Detroit and killed himself after security fired at him. The FBI’s Detroit office, which is investigating... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346686/brother-michigan-synagogue-attacker-was-hezbollah-commander-israeli-military-claims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346686/brother-michigan-synagogue-attacker-was-hezbollah-commander-israeli-military-claims?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 17:12:51 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Explosions rocked Iraq’s capital Baghdad on Saturday after two strikes targeted the powerful Iran-backed group Kataeb Hezbollah, killing two members including a “key figure”, security sources said. The strikes are the first in the heart of Baghdad to kill Iran-backed fighters since the start of the Middle East war on February 28, which has not spared Iraq, long a proxy battleground between the US and Iran. “At 2.15am, a missile struck a house that was being used by Kataeb Hezbollah,” said a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346576/strikes-iraqi-capital-kill-2-iran-linked-kataeb-hezbollah-members?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346576/strikes-iraqi-capital-kill-2-iran-linked-kataeb-hezbollah-members?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 03:35:28 +0000 Reuters Reuters Israeli strikes and mass evacuation orders have seen nearly 700,000 people flee their homes in Lebanon in just over a week, with more than 100,000 fleeing in 24 hours, the UN said on Tuesday. “Lives have been upended on a massive scale,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, the representative in Lebanon of UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency. In just over a week since the new escalation in Lebanon, Israeli air strikes and evacuation warnings to residents of dozens of villages “forced families... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346067/war-middle-east-nearly-500-dead-lebanon-israeli-offensive-last-week?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346067/war-middle-east-nearly-500-dead-lebanon-israeli-offensive-last-week?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:22:42 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A Berlin court on Thursday jailed a Syrian man for 13 years for a jihadist-inspired knife attack on a Spanish tourist at the German capital’s Holocaust memorial. The 20-year-old suspect, named only as Wassim Al M., was convicted of attempted murder, grievous bodily harm and attempted membership of a terrorist organisation, the court said. The stabbing in February 2025 inflamed an already heated debate on migration just a few days before a general election in Germany. Presiding judge Doris Husch... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3345567/berlin-jails-man-13-years-over-stabbing-holocaust-memorial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3345567/berlin-jails-man-13-years-over-stabbing-holocaust-memorial?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Mar 2026 09:32:26 +0000 Jawad Khalid Jawad Khalid The latest exchange of air strikes and border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan has once again pushed the region to the brink, reviving a dread among those who have lived through this cycle before, the continuation of a war that never truly ended. The so-called war on terror has been waged for over two decades, with no end in sight. Since 2001, the war has claimed more than 33,000 civilian and security forces lives in Pakistan and displaced millions internally. Yet a fundamental question... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3345138/pakistans-forever-war-and-politics-exhaustion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3345138/pakistans-forever-war-and-politics-exhaustion?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2026 14:30:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A French court on Monday reduced on appeal the prison sentences of three men convicted over the 2020 jihadist beheading of a teacher who showed a class cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Samuel Paty, 47, was murdered in October 2020 by Abdoullakh Anzorov, an 18-year-old radical Islamist of Chechen origin, in an act that horrified France. Anzorov was killed in a shoot-out with police. Two friends of Anzorov, French national Naim Boudaoud and Azim Epsirkhanov, a Russian of Chechen origin, had their... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3345192/french-court-slashes-prison-terms-3-people-involved-2020-teacher-beheading?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3345192/french-court-slashes-prison-terms-3-people-involved-2020-teacher-beheading?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2026 21:14:07 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Pakistan bombed major cities in Afghanistan including the capital Kabul on Friday, with Islamabad’s defence minister declaring the neighbours at “open war” following months of tit-for-tat clashes. Journalists in Kabul and Kandahar heard blasts and jets overhead until dawn, as Pakistan launched air strikes on the Afghan capital and the southern power base of the Taliban authorities. Pakistan’s latest operation came after Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops on Thursday night over... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344796/pakistan-declares-open-war-afghan-taliban-after-morning-strikes-kabul-kandahar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344796/pakistan-declares-open-war-afghan-taliban-after-morning-strikes-kabul-kandahar?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Feb 2026 01:01:15 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Pakistan’s claim of killing at least 80 militants in strikes on Afghanistan is “false”, a Taliban government security source told Agence France-Presse on Sunday. “The figure of 80 martyrs given by the Pakistan regime is false and imaginary,” the source said on condition of anonymity. Talal Chaudhry, Pakistan’s deputy interior minister, offered no evidence for his claim in an interview with Geo News that at least 70 militants were killed in the strikes. Pakistan’s state-run media later reported... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344268/pakistan-targets-militants-afghanistan-testing-doha-truce?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344268/pakistan-targets-militants-afghanistan-testing-doha-truce?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Feb 2026 12:07:16 +0000 Reuters Reuters Hamas is cementing its hold over Gaza by placing loyalists in key government roles, collecting taxes and paying salaries, according to an Israeli military assessment and sources in the Palestinian enclave. Hamas’ continuing influence over key Gaza power structures has fuelled widespread scepticism about the prospects of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, which requires the militant group to give up its weapons in exchange for an Israeli military withdrawal from the territory. Trump’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3344014/can-trumps-board-peace-succeed-while-hamas-still-runs-gaza?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3344014/can-trumps-board-peace-succeed-while-hamas-still-runs-gaza?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Feb 2026 09:47:12 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg The Trump administration is withdrawing forces from Syria as part of a strategic shift now that the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa is taking control of the fight against terror groups, according to a senior US official. A significant US troop presence is no longer required in Syria, according to the official who detailed the decision on condition of anonymity, but the Trump administration is ready to respond to Islamic State threats in the region. Some US personnel are leaving as part... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343947/us-pulls-forces-syria-new-government-exerts-control?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343947/us-pulls-forces-syria-new-government-exerts-control?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Feb 2026 23:04:52 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Canberra banned an Australian citizen with alleged ties to the militant Islamic State (Isis) group from returning home from a detention camp in Syria, the latest development in the case of fraught repatriation of families of Isis fighters. The woman was planning to join another 33 Australians – 10 women and 23 children – and fly on Monday from Damascus, Syria, to Australia, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Wednesday. But the group was turned back by Syrian authorities to the Roj... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3343932/australian-citizen-syria-alleged-isis-ties-banned-returning-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3343932/australian-citizen-syria-alleged-isis-ties-banned-returning-home?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Feb 2026 12:16:32 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A suicide bomber backed by a group of gunmen rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the wall of a security post after troops signalled for it to stop in a former Pakistani Taliban stronghold in northwestern Pakistan, causing part of the compound to collapse and killing 11 soldiers and a child, the military and police said on Tuesday. The military said in a statement that the attackers had sought to breach the checkpoint overnight but were thwarted by security forces. It said troops later pursued... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3343839/11-soldiers-1-child-killed-pakistan-after-explosive-laden-vehicle-rams-security-post?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3343839/11-soldiers-1-child-killed-pakistan-after-explosive-laden-vehicle-rams-security-post?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Feb 2026 12:44:11 +0000 dpa dpa The militant Palestinian organisation Hamas used emojis to signal to its fighters the start of the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the Israeli TV channel N12 reported on Monday. It cited the Israeli army as its source but a military spokeswoman was initially unable to officially confirm the story. According to the report, the emojis were found on mobile phones belonging to members of Hamas’ elite Nukhba Forces unit, which were seized by the Israelis on the day of the attack. The specific... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343774/hamas-used-emojis-signal-start-october-7-2023-attack-israel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343774/hamas-used-emojis-signal-start-october-7-2023-attack-israel?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Feb 2026 19:23:12 +0000 Reuters Reuters Austrian prosecutors ⁠have filed terrorism-related and ⁠other charges against a now 21-year-old suspect arrested just before a 2024 Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, who they said planned to carry out an Islamist militant attack. The Vienna prosecutors’ office plans to bring a criminal case against the unnamed suspect in Wiener Neustadt, a town near Vienna, accusing him of producing a small amount of the explosive triacetone triperoxide and attempting to buy weapons ⁠illegally, it said in a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3343770/austria-files-terror-charges-against-suspect-over-planned-2024-taylor-swift-attack?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3343770/austria-files-terror-charges-against-suspect-over-planned-2024-taylor-swift-attack?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Feb 2026 17:08:09 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Thousands of mourners gathered in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, on Saturday to start burying the 32 people killed in a suicide bombing ‍at a Shiite mosque during Friday prayers, as the city tightened security and authorities arrested four people believed to have helped the bomber. The Islamic State group (Isis) has claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest in Islamabad since the 2008 Marriott hotel bombing. Minister of Interior Moshin Naqvi told a press conference on Saturday that... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3342745/31-killed-pakistan-mosque-suicide-blast-extremely-powerful-explosion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3342745/31-killed-pakistan-mosque-suicide-blast-extremely-powerful-explosion?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Feb 2026 03:39:14 +0000 Reuters Reuters The US has arrested a person suspected of ‍playing a central role in the 2012 attack on its consulate in Benghazi, Libya, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Friday. Bondi said Zubayar al-Bakoush has been ⁠extradited to the United States and will face murder, arson and terrorism-related charges. Four US personnel were killed in the September 11, 2012, incident, which was initially thought to be a spontaneous reaction to protests ‍but was later identified as a deliberate attack carried out by... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3342732/us-arrests-suspect-2012-benghazi-consulate-attack-bondi-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3342732/us-arrests-suspect-2012-benghazi-consulate-attack-bondi-says?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Feb 2026 16:51:07 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse First, the jihadists sent a letter saying they were coming to the village to preach, said Nigerian chief Umar Bio Salihu. When no one attended, they went on a rampage, killing people and torching houses, he said. Salihu is the traditional chief of Woro, a small, Muslim-majority village in west-central Nigeria where alleged jihadist gunmen are reported to have perpetrated a massacre late Tuesday. Details were still emerging from the attack, but it was one of the country’s deadliest in recent... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3342625/survivors-recount-terror-nigeria-massacre-where-people-were-burned-inside-houses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3342625/survivors-recount-terror-nigeria-massacre-where-people-were-burned-inside-houses?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Feb 2026 06:45:50 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press As the bodies of two dozen Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes arrived at hospitals in Gaza on Wednesday, the director of one asked a question that has echoed across the war-ravaged territory for months. “Where is the ceasefire? Where are the mediators?” Shifa Hospital’s Mohamed Abu Selmiya wrote on Facebook. At least 556 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since a US-brokered truce came into effect in October, including 24 on Wednesday and 30 on Saturday, according to Gaza’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3342483/gazas-violent-reality-hundreds-have-been-killed-october-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3342483/gazas-violent-reality-hundreds-have-been-killed-october-ceasefire?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Feb 2026 06:35:55 +0000 Reuters Reuters Nearly 200 people have been ‍killed by armed men in separate attacks in remote villages in central and northern Nigeria, a local lawmaker, residents and police said on Wednesday, as security forces searched for survivors and chased the attackers. In central Kwara state, gunmen attacked the Woro community on Tuesday leaving at least 170 ⁠people dead, the lawmaker for the area, Saidu Baba Ahmed, said by phone. It was the deadliest assault recorded this year in the district bordering Niger state,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3342458/gunmen-massacre-nearly-200-nigeria-attacks-some-bound-and-executed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3342458/gunmen-massacre-nearly-200-nigeria-attacks-some-bound-and-executed?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Feb 2026 04:03:15 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 21 Palestinians, most of them women and children, by midday on Wednesday, according to hospital officials. Israel pledged to continue strikes, saying that it was responding to a militant attack on Israeli soldiers that seriously wounded one. Among the Palestinians killed were five children, including a 5-month-old and a baby just 10 days old; seven women; and a paramedic, hospital officials said. They are the latest Palestinians in Gaza to die since a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3342381/israeli-strikes-kill-17-palestinians-mostly-women-and-children-gaza-ceasefire-crumbles?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3342381/israeli-strikes-kill-17-palestinians-mostly-women-and-children-gaza-ceasefire-crumbles?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Feb 2026 09:46:32 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The Nigerian army said on Sunday it killed a top commander of Boko Haram and 10 members of the Islamic extremist group in a night raid in the northeastern part of the country. Abu Khalid, a commander of Boko Haram in the Sambisa Forest in Borno state, was a key figure within “the terrorist hierarchy, coordinating operations and logistics in the Sambisa axis,” army spokesman Sani Uba said in a statement. The soldiers attacked the Boko Haram militants on Saturday night in the Kodunga area of Borno... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3342019/nigerian-army-kills-top-boko-haram-commander-10-militants-night-raid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3342019/nigerian-army-kills-top-boko-haram-commander-10-militants-night-raid?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Feb 2026 15:21:24 +0000